The F-16 Fighter Could Still be Flying in 2050

The U.S. Air Force is considering an upgrade that would add nearly 6,000 more flight hours to the lives of hundreds of F-16 fighters. According to War is Boring, the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) would enable existing F-16s to fly another 20 years past their upgrade date, enabling the late 20th Century jet to serve through the middle of the 21st Century.

The Air Force has more than a thousand F-16s in service and is in the process of replacing them with the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. Even so, it will be more than a decade before enough new fighters are purchased to safely retire the F-16s. That delay has prompting the service to look into what it would take to keep the older fighters flying.

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-16 and the F-35, has come up with a kit of replacement parts for to up to 300 single-seat and 43 twin-seat fighters. The upgrade still needs to be funded but the upgrade program would run through 2028, making the last planes capable of serving as late as 2048.

War is Boring makes an important point: Would anyone still want to fly F-16s in 2048? Yes, the F-35's cost overruns and delays are frustrating. But as the price of the F-35A finally dips below $100 million a copy, on its way to the target price of $85 million, upgrading older, lower-tech planes becomes a less attractive proposition. Of course, the Air Force is no stranger to keeping older planes in the skies.

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